How Faith And Her Little Helpers Saved Christmas
by boop-oop-ee-doo
Summary: When Santa Claus falls off the Scooby's roof and sprains his ankle, it is up to Faith, Tara, Sophie, and baby Lily to fill in and deliver presents to all the world's children. Set in my 'Willow's Child' universe.
1. The Night Before Christmas

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

AN: 'Tis the season, so here I am, starting my Christmas fic for the year. The plot of this fic is partially inspired by 'A Flintstone's Christmas'.

* * *

It was Christmas Eve in the Scooby household. The front and backyards were both covered in thick blankets of snow, so it seemed like the gang was going to be in for a perfect white Christmas. At least, they would be if Buffy and Willow could make it to the airport and back before morning.

"How could Giles be stupid enough to book a flight here on _Christmas Eve_?" said Buffy, annoyed, as she and Willow walked to the car.

"He isn't" Willow sighed. "But Andrew is, and Giles _was _stupid enough to leave him in charge of booking tickets for them to fly here for Christmas. But we can't be too mad at him, I talked to him this morning and he's just as annoyed as we are." Willow sighed again and turned around, crouching in front of Sophie, who stood nearby with Tara who held Lily. "Promise you'll be a good girl, and go to sleep when Mama Tara, tells you, 'cause you know Santa can't come until you're asleep."

"I know Mommy Willow, I'll be good" said Sophie. "And don't worry if you're not back when I wake up tomorrow morning, I won't open any presents without you. We'll wait, won't we Lily?"

"Wai' for Ih-oh, wai' for Ih-oh!" Lily giggled, clapping her little hands. Willow stood, smiling, dropping a kiss to her younger daughter's forehead.

"You be good for Mama Tara too."

"Tawa, Tawa!" Lily craned her neck to look at the woman holding her.

"Yep, that's the one" Willow chuckled. She moved to give Tara a quick kiss, then quietly snatched the car keys from Buffy's back pocket and climbed into the driver's seat. Buffy glared at her, then turned back to Faith.

"Traffic's gonna be a nightmare" she groaned, giving her wife of a few months a goodbye kiss. "Don't bother waiting up for me."

"You know I'll still do it anyway, right?" Faith grinned.

"Yeah" Buffy smirked. "Just don't go running off with Santa Claus or something while I'm gone."

"Not a chance, B."

* * *

A little while later, Faith, Sophie, and Tara, with Lily in her lap, sat watching Christmas specials on T.V. Connor and Dawn were upstairs, doing God knows what. Just when Tara decided that it might be time to put the girls to bed for the night, they heard a very loud crash on the roof, 'causing Echo, who had been sleeping by the couch, to bark wildly. This crash was soon followed by a yell of panic, which was then followed by a large red and white blur falling past the window, landing in a large pile of snow. The group, led by Faith, rushed outside to investigate. Sticking out of the pile of snow was the legs and rather big rear end of someone wearing a pair of velvety red pants which looked like they belonged to a Santa suit.

"Great, one of those freakin' Christmas cat burglars pretendin' to be Santa Claus" Faith frowned, moving to pull the person out. "You picked the wrong house, buddy. Tara, I'll hold him while you call the cops."

"Uh, Faith" said Tara, wide eyed and nervous, gaze tilted upwards. Lily, looking in the same direction, clapped and giggled, while the look on Sophie's face mirrored Tara's.

"What?"

"I don't thinks he's pretending" said Sophie.

"Why not?" Faith frowned. Tara and Sophie wordlessly pointed to the roof. The Dark Slayer looked up, seeing a brilliant read slay, a large sack stuffed full with gifts sitting in the back. Eight reindeer were harnessed to it. Faith's jaw dropped. "You've go to be kiddin' me."

"Santa!" Lily giggled.


	2. A Favour For Santa

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

* * *

A groan was emitted from the pile of snow.

"Come on!" cried Sophie, coming to her senses. "We've gots to get him out!" She went to grab a leg and pull.

"Oh, don't pull on that leg Sweetie!" cried Tara, noticing something. "That ankle looks a little swollen."

"He's a jolly old fat guy, T" Faith frowned. "How can you tell that his ankle is anymore swollen than the rest of him?"

"Auntie Faith!" cried Sophie, "Show some respect!"

"Sorry, T."

"Thanks, but I think she meant to Santa" Tara chuckled.

"Santa, Santa!" Lily echoed happily.

"She's probably right there too" Faith sighed. "Okay Little Red, let's dig Ol' Saint Nick out of this snow." So they did.

* * *

Unfortunately, it appeared that Santa had somehow sprained his ankle in the fall, so Faith, and Tara with her free arm, helped him inside and laid him on the couch with his injured leg up. Tara then left Lily with Faith while she went to fetch some milk and cookies.

"This is just terrible!" Santa Claus lamented, while Sophie stared at him in awe, hanging on his every word. "Of all the nights this could have happened, why did it have to be this one? Why Christmas Eve?"

"Yeah, uh, tough break" said Faith, who was a little more awkard around their guest than her adopted older sister and two nieces seemed to be, probably due to the fact that Christmas had rarely been celebrated in her house as a child. At that moment, Tara returned with the milk and cookies.

"H-Here you go, Mr. Claus, s-sir" she stuttered nervously, placing them on the coffee table beside the couch.

"Thank you, Tara dear. You always were a sweet little thing" Santa smiled. Tara blushed. Santa sighed as he nibbled on a cookie. "All the poor little children waking up tomorrow morning with no presents! They will be so disappointed! Unless.."

"Unless what, Santa?" asked Sophie.

"Unless I can find someone kind enough to fill in and deliver the presents for me" he replied. Faith suddenly felt very uncomfortable, as for some reason all eyes had turned to her.

"Uh.. Why are you all starin' at me like that?"

"You can deliver the presents, Auntie Faith!" cried Sophie.

"Oh no, I don't think that's such a good.." Faith began, before Sophie interrupted her.

"It is, it's a great idea! You can be like Santa, and me, Lily, and Mama Tara can be your elves!"

"Okay, I can see you've put a lot of thought into this Little Red, but.."

"Please, Auntie Faith?" said Sophie with wide, pleading eyes. "Please can we help Santa?"

"I'm never gonna stop payin' for the wolfy eyes thing am I?" Faith groaned to herself, before turning to Tara. "What do you think, Blondie?"

"If you're in, I'm in" Tara smiled.

"Fine" Faith sighed, relenting. "Let's go bring joy to children and stuff."

"Yay!" cried Sophie, throwing her arms around the Dark Slayer.

"You're really willing to sacrifice your Christmas Eve to fill in for me?" asked Santa, a little surprised.

"What can I say?" Faith shrugged, hugging Sophie back. "When the wife's not around, this kid owns me."

* * *

"Is the suit completely necessary?" Faith frowned as she found herself dressed in the typical Santa outfit, though magically altered to match her size.

"Yes Faith, the suit is completely necessary" Santa explained. "If any children happen to see you, the suit will act as a signal that you are working for me."

"I actually kinda like mine" Tara chuckled as she looked herself over. She, Sophie, and Lily were all dressed in matching green elf outfits.

"Elfie Tawa, Elfie 'Phie!" Lily giggled.

"Okay" said Faith, turning back to Santa Claus, "Anything else we need to know before we get this show on the road?"

"Well, to start the sleigh all you have to do is call out the reindeer's names. Don't worry about driving, or missing a house, they know all the stops."

"How do we know which presents to leave at which house?" asked Tara.

"The sack is magical" Santa explained. "It knows which gift belongs to which child, so when you reach in you will automatically pull out that gift. Well girls, I think that's about all you need to know."

"Great, let's go" said Faith, heading for the door, wanting to get on with it as soon as possible.

"Wait, don't we gots to tell Connor and Auntie Dawn where we're going?" said Sophie.

"Oh, right. Hey Pipsqueak, Soulboy Junior!"

"What is it.." Dawn began as she and Connor appeared at the top of the stairs, jaws dropping when they spotted the bearded man on the couch.

"We need you two to look after Santa while we're off deliverin' presents to all the world's children" said Faith as she rushed out the door, her three little helpers in tow. "See ya!"


	3. The Perils Of Present Delivery

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

* * *

As the group rushed outside, Tara levitated them all onto the roof, and they climbed into the front of the sleigh.

"Okay, let's get this thing started" said Faith, taking the reins. "Uh, on Basher, on Biscuit.."

"That's not their names, Auntie Faith!" Sophie giggled. One of the reindeer, Comet, Tara noticed from the gold name plate on his harness, seemed to be looking at their substitute Santa like she was a complete idiot.

"Hey, go easy on me, will ya?" Faith frowned. "I'm still new to all these damn Christmas traditions."

"It's okay, Faith" said Tara. "Let me, I know them."

"Tawa know, Tawa know!" Lily babbled.

"Yes, Mama Tara knows all the reindeer's names" Tara smiled, giving the baby in her lap a little tickle. Then, she took a deep breath and began to call. "On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer and Vixen.."

"On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and Blitzen!" Sophie finished. With that, the reindeer took flight, pulling the sleigh into the air. "Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas!" Sophie yelled, laughing.

"Ho ho ho!" Lily giggled.

* * *

Before long, the reindeers had landed on a roof about a block away which marked the destination of their first present delivery.

"Okay, T" said Faith, climbing out of the sleigh and slinging the sack over her shoulder, "You just levitate me down, and I'll climb through a window and.."

"You can't do that, Auntie Faith!" Sophie cried. "You've gots to go down the chimney!"

"You're kidding."

"Nope" said Sophie, crossing her arms.

"You really expect me to go down the freakin' chimney?"

"Uh-huh."

"Tara" Faith frowned, turning to the girl's Mother, "Tell her that.."

"I'm sorry, but I agree with Sophie" said Tara.

"What?" Faith frowned.

"Hey, if you agreed to do this, you might as well do it right" Tara pointed out.

"Okay, I get ya point" Faith sighed. "I'll go down the damn chimney.." The Dark Slayer climbed into the chimney and let herself drop down, sack in tow. Once down, she let out a huge yelp. Embers from the fire that had burned there earlier still smouldered in the fireplace.

"Faith, are you okay?" called Tara, worried.

"I almost just set my freakin' ass on fire!" Faith called back from the house below as she jumped around, brushing hot ash from her backside. "Does that sound okay to you?"

* * *

Despite the minor setback that the fire had caused, Faith still managed to successfully deliver the presents. They got through the next few houses without incident, and then reached one with a particularly narrow chimney. However, the growing number of successful deliveries she had put behind her had raised Faith's confidence, so she climbed right into the chimney... and promptly got herself stuck.

"Damn it!" she groaned, wriggling feebly to get herself free. Tara winced.

"That doesn't look comfortable. What should we do?"

"Uh.." Faith thought as she continued to struggle, "How about you and Little Red just push my shoulders?"

"Okay" said Tara, sitting Lily in the sleigh while she went to push her adopted little sister's shoulder.

"Okay, Auntie Faith" agreed Sophie, pushing the other shoulder. They pushed and pushed as hard as they could, until eventually, Faith flew down the chimney and into the house like a cork out of a champagne bottle, and somehow ended up face first in the plate of cookies that had been left on the coffee table for Santa.

"Faith?" asked Tara a little nervously.

"Are you okay?" asked Sophie.

"Never better" said Faith sarcastically, spitting cumbs from her mouth. This family were health nuts, and the cookies were sugar-reduced. She quickly delivered the gifts, then Tara levitated her back up and they all climbed back into the sleigh, before flying for their next destination. "Hey, T" Faith suggested, "How about when we reach the next house, _you _have a turn at goin' down the chimney?"

"Oh, probably not a good idea" said Tara quickly. "See, I've still got a few pounds of baby weight to lose, so.."

"Really?" Faith frowned. "But Lily was born a year ago."

"I know, but you're not supposed to worry to much about losing the weight until you stop breastfeeding, and I only stopped breastfeeding six months ago."

"Still been a while.." Faith mumbled.

"Hey, when _you've _been pregnant, then we can talk" said Tara, glaring at her.


	4. In Which Faith's Plan Fails Miserably

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

AN: In this chapter, our Christmas-saving heroes must visit the apartment of a certain one-eyed friend, his former demon girlfriend, and their newborn son. Can they avoid being busted? Read on to find out!

* * *

Thankfully, Faith managed to get through a great deal of houses without any further trouble, but soon they landed on the roof of a very familiar apartment building.

"Uh-oh" said Faith, looking around, "Um, are we where I think we are?"

"You mean Xander and Anya's apartment block?" asked Tara.

"Uh-huh."

"Then yes, we are exactly where you think we are."

"Crap" Faith muttered to herself.

* * *

As an apartment block obviously didn't have a chimney, Faith got into the building through an open window, and used a little of the 'Christmas magic' Santa had entrusted her with for the night to get through the locked doors. She left Xander and Anya's place until last due to the embarrassment she would undoubtedly face if they caught her. But it couldn't be put off any longer. All the other children in the building had had their presents delivered, and now baby Jesse was the only one left.

"Why couldn't they have had their kid after Christmas?" Faith grumbled to herself as she approached the door. Then, just as she was about to open it, she thought of a plan, and grinned, rushing back up to the others on the roof.

"What happened?" asked Tara as soon as Faith reappeared.

"Did they sees you?" asked Sophie, worried.

"Nah, I haven't been there yet" said Faith.

"Why not?" frowned Tara, confused.

"Well, I had this idea.."

* * *

In their apartment, Xander and Anya were watching T.V when they heard a knock at the door.

"I'll get it" said Xander, standing up.

"I'm coming with you" said Anya, grabbing his arm. "If it's a demon here to kill us, you'll need back-up to make sure you don't die. There's no way I'm raising our tiny human by myself."

"Whatever you think, Ahn" Xander chuckled. They headed to the door, opening it to find Tara, Sophie, and Lily in their elf outfits.

"Hi!" said Tara cheerily.

"Hello!" Sophie smiled.

"Xan, Ahn!" Lily giggled happily, reaching her little arms out towards them.

"Uh.. hi guys" said Xander, who was understandably quite confused.

"Why are you dressed like those big-eared midgets in all the Christmas movies?" Anya frowned.

"Elves, Ahn, they're called elves" Xander sighed.

"Well why are they dressed like them? And why are they here?"

"That is actually a good question" Xander admitted.

"Uh.." said Tara, trying to keep her eyes on her friends and not the Santa-costumed Faith currently climbing through their window.

"_Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!_" Sophie began singing at the top of her lungs.

"_Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh, hey!_" Tara continued, chuckling, while blessing her daughter's quick thinking. "The girl's were having trouble getting to sleep, so I decided to take them out carolling to tire them out" she grinned, before she and Sophie continued to sing.

"_Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way! Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh!_" While her 'elves' kept Xander and Anya distracted, Santa-Faith crept over to the tree and began tucking Jesse's presents underneath it. "_Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh, over fields we go, laughing all the way! Ha, ha, ha!_" Faith finished her delivery, and had begun creeping back to the window.. "_Bells on bob-tails ring, making spirits bright, what fun it is to.._" When baby Jesse began to cry. Anya turned to go tend to him, and saw Faith, her telltale mop of dark hair hidden behind the sack of presents.

"Oh my God!" she screamed. "It's the evil Santa Claus, here to disembowel our tiny human!" The former demon ran over and tackled Faith to the ground, while Xander ran into the nursery to protect his son from the 'threat'.

"Anya!" cried Tara. "Stop, it's.."

"Die, you fiend!" cried Anya, ignoring Tara while keeping the struggling Faith pinned to the ground.

"Anya, get off me!" Faith yelled, annoyed, but not wanting to use her Slayer strength for fear of accidently hurting her friend.

"Faith?" Anya frowned, confused. "You're the evil Santa Claus?"

"Okay guys" said Xander as he emerged from the nursery protectively clutching the screaming Jesse to his chest, "I want to know what the hell is going on here!"

"It's a very, very, long story Uncle Xander" Sophie sighed.


	5. The Snowstorm Disaster

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

* * *

"So, let me see if I got this" said Xander from his place on the couch, bouncing the still grizzling Jesse. "Santa Claus, who we have now established is _not _a demon.."

"Because it turns out I had him mixed up with Zanterkloss, a demon who took advantage of the legend of Santa Claus to sneak into houses and disembowel children on Christmas Eve" said Anya. Faith glared at her. "Hey, I said I was sorry!"

"Anyway" Xander continued, "Santa fell off your roof and sprained his ankle, and now you guys have to deliver all the presents?"

"Yup" said Sophie, nodding.

"That is so cool!" yelled Xander, grinning. At that moment, baby Jesse once again began to cry, loudly. "Oh, don't cry buddy, Daddy's sorry he was too loud, he didn't mean to scare you.."

"He's not scared Xander, he's hungry" said Anya, rolling her eyes as she took Jesse from his father. "That's his hungry cry." Tara smiled as she watched her friend stand and carry the baby towards the nursery, whispering comforting words to him. Though she often complained about the sleepless nights and dirty diapers she had been faced with since little Jesse was born, it was obvious that Anya adored her son. The former demon briefly looked back at them, frowning. "What are you waiting for? Get going, you don't want to disappoint all the world's children!"

* * *

And get going they did. Thankfully facing no further setbacks, Santa-Faith and her three little helpers managed to complete the gift deliveries for America, and a number of other countries. Unfortunately, disaster struck once again when, while heading for England, the sleigh flew into a terrible snow storm, and Faith began to lose control.

"Whoa, reindeer, whoa!" the Dark Slayer yelled, tugging desperately on the reins. "I can't see a damn thing through this freakin' snow! Where's Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer when ya need him?"

"Rudolph isn't real!" Tara shouted through the roaring wind and swirling snow. "He was just the mascot for a lighting company!"

"Really?" Faith frowned. Tara just nodded. "Wow. Really learn somethin' new everyday, don't ya.. Whoa!" she yelled as the wing of a plane, unssen by them due to the storm, bumped the sleigh, giving it a jolt and sending the sack of presents flying over the back.

"The presents!" cried Sophie in horror. The little girl leapt into the back of the sleigh and grabbed the drawstring of the sack in the nick of time, but the weight of the thing dragged her over the sleigh's edge too, screaming.

"Sophie!" Tara screamed. "Faith, do something!"

"'Phie!" Lily wailed, bursting into tears. "Wan' 'Phie, wan' 'Phie!"

"Turn around, you stupid reindeer!" Faith growled. The reindeer turned, and, seeming to sense what was needed from them, went into a dive, pulling up just in time for the plummeting Sophie to land safely in Faith's lap. "It's okay, Little Red, we've got you" said Faith, hugging her tight.

"Thank God you're okay!" yelled Tara, joining the hug.

"'Phie!" cried Lily happily. Sophie whimpered.

"What's wrong, Little Red?" Faith frowned.

"I losted the presents!" Sophie sobbed. "They were too heavy, I couldn't hang on.."

"It's okay Sweetie, it wasn't your fault" said Tara comfortingly. "Anyway, we'd much rather lose the presents than lose you." Faith agreed wholeheartedly. Still, she couldn't help thinking that Santa was going to kill them.


	6. Head For Home

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

* * *

"What are we gonna do now?" Faith frowned, gripping the reins with one hand while her other arm remained wrapped around Sophie, still sobbing in her lap.

"Uh.." Tara, still recovering from the shock of seeing her first-born fall out of the sleigh (Okay, maybe Sophie hadn't been 'born' in the traditional sense, but now was hardly the time to argue that point), and now keeping a considerably tighter grip on her second-born, needed a few moments for her brain to kick back into thinking mode. "Um.. Oh, try calling Santa back at the house" she suggested, pulling her cellphone out of the pocket of her outfit and offering it to the Slayer.

"You brought your cellphone?" asked Faith, surprised.

"We're flying around the world. Why would I not bring my cellphone?" Tara frowned.

"Good point" Faith admitted. She handed the reins to Tara in exchange for the phone. "Mind takin' over for a sec, T?"

"Not at all" Tara replied, grinning at how seemingly instinctive it had been for Faith to give up the reins over comforting Sophie. Her little sister was going to make a great Mom one day. It sometimes surprised Tara how quickly that had become natural for her- calling Faith her sister. But it had, and to be honest, Tara was glad that Faith was the one who she was on this little adventure with. As much as she loved her wife, Willow had an unfortunate tendency to panic and overreact, and given the situations they had been faced with so far that night those probably wouldn't have been the greatest personality traits. Now Faith had dialled home, and was waiting rather impatiently for someone to pick up.

_"Hello?"_ came Dawn's voice eventually.

"Hey Pipsqueak, I need to speak to Big Red."

_"Uh, Willow's not back yet.."_

"I meant Santa Claus" Faith frowned.

_"Oh! Sure, I'll just go give him the phone."_ There was some fumbling, a crash, and hurried apologies, Dawn obviously still as awed by the big man's presence as Tara had been in the beginning, but before long, Santa's jolly old voice travelled through the speaker.

_"Hello, Faith dear. What seems to be the problem?"_

"Uh, sorry to tell ya this Mr C, but.." Faith paused as Sophie whimpered, gently stroking the little girl's hair to reassure her that the disaster that had befallen the presents was in no way her fault. "There's a huge snowstorm over England, and we kinda lost the presents."

_"Oh, not to worry" _said Santa cheerily._ "Just swing by my Workshop at the North Pole and pick up a new sack."_

"Really?" said Faith, surprised. "We have time for that?"

_"Of course you do! Time moves more slowly for those in the sleigh, haven't you noticed?"_

"Actually, no" said Faith, quickly deciding that it wasn't important, and asking a question that was. "How do we get to your workshop anyway, seein' as you're the only one who knows where it is?"

_"Oh, that's easy. Just tell the reindeer to head for home, they know the way."_

"You hear that, guys?" Faith shouted to the reindeer, moving the phone away from her ear. "Your boss says head for home!"

* * *

Meanwhile, far below our heroes, Vi was roaming the snow-covered grounds of the Slayer school, having somehow been roped by Kennedy into searching for the weapons that the other Slayer-In-Training had left outside before it had started snowing. Digging through the piles of white slush with gloved hands, the girl let out a yelp of surprise when a large red sack crashed to the ground beside her. After staring nervously at it for a moment she decided to investigate. Vi peeked inside the sack, and, bewitched as the thing was to always produce the perfect gift for any particular person, the young Slayer found it filled with a countless number of gifts, all labeled with the names of all the Christmas-celebrating SITs, including a few for herself.

"Hey, everyone!" she grinned, slinging the sack over her shoulder and heading back inside, "Come see what Santa brought us!"


	7. The Saviours Of Christmas

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

* * *

Soon, a lot sooner, in fact, than any of them had expected, the sleigh touched down at the North Pole, just outside Santa's workshop. Mrs. Claus, a rosy cheeked old lady with her white hair tied up in a bun, was outside waiting for them, accompanied by two elves.

"Hello dears!" she greeted cheerily as they climbed out of the sleigh. "My husband told us you were coming. Thank you so much for filling in after he was injured.." she paused, eyes turning to Sophie, who had buried her tear-stained face in Faith's shoulder. "Oh, what's the matter with this little one?"

"She fell out of the sleigh tryin' to grab the presents" Faith explained. "We caught her, but I think she blames herself for losin' 'em. Actually, she does kinda have a habit of blamin' stuff on herself.." Faith mused, turning to Tara. "Maybe you should do somethin' about that."

"I don't think there's much we can do about that" Tara sighed. "Unfortunately, the 'blaming yourself for stuff that isn't your fault' gene is something that Sophie's inherited, from both sides."

"Well, I'm sure a nice cup of hot cocoa will make her feel better" Mrs. Claus smiled. "Come inside and we'll get her some, the elves are just finishing up the new sack."

* * *

Sophie got her hot cocoa, and, as she sipped it, sitting in a small chair near where her Mother and Aunties were chatting to Mrs. Claus, the little girl did begin to feel a lot better. But just as soon as she was feeling better, something happened to send her into a fit of panic once again. You see, Tara had set Lily down on what she thought was a bench while she talked to Mrs. Claus. But what Tara had thought was a bench was really a conveyor belt, and this conveyor belt sudenly began to move before Sophie's eyes, carrying her little sister away.

"Mama Tara!" Sophie cried, jumping up and tugging on her Mother's sleeve.

"Not now sweetie, I'm talking to Mrs. Claus."

"But Mama Tara.."

"Just sit down and finish your hot chocolate" said Tara, "And I'll be with you in a minute." Sophie's eyes widened as she saw a a hatch open at he end of the conveyer belt, and, deciding their wasn't any more time to waste trying to get Tara's attention, she leapt onto the conveyor belt, seizing her baby sister around the waist as they disappeared through the hatch.

"Uh, T?" said Faith, glancing around worriedly a few minutes later when she realised she couldn't hear Lily babbling, "Where are the kids?"

"Oh, they're just.." Tara began, her eyes widening with panic when she too realised that both of her children were missing. "I left Lily right there, on that bench!"

"You mean the conveyor belt?" said Mrs. Claus.

"Conveyor belt?" yelped Faith and Tara in unison.

"Mhmm" Mrs. Claus replied, pointing. "It leads to the main factory, right through that door." Before she had even finished the sentence, Santa-Faith and her remaining little helper had bolted for said door.

"You left your baby on a conveyor belt!" Faith yelled at Tara in disbelief.

"I know" Tara groaned as they ran. "I feel like such an idiot, Sophie tried to.."

"You're supposed to be a good Mom!" Faith continued, interrupting. "How the hell could you leave your baby on a freakin' conveyor belt?"

"I am a good Mom!" snapped Tara defensively. "Even good parents sometimes make mistakes, Faith. It wasn't like I knew it was a conveyor belt when I left her there, did I?"

"Okay, sorry, I'm just panickin' a little here.." The pair burst through the door into the main workshop, to find Sophie and Lily both playing in a pile of wrapping paper, giggling.

"Hi" smiled a nearby elf, gesturing to the children. "Are these yours?"

* * *

After their minor panic attacks over the conveyor belt, Santa-Faith and her Tara-elf collected the replacement sack, and managed to complete gift-deliveries to the rest of the world, while Sophie and Lily, exhausted by the night's adventures, fell asleep in the sleigh on the way home. And, it just so happened that our heroes arrived home at exactly the moment that their wives returned from picking up their friends at the airport.

"What the hell?" yelled Buffy, gazing up at the sleigh as she climbed out of the car.

"It's Santa!" cried Andrew excitedly, before a confused look spread over his face. "Faith is Santa?"

"For tonight, yeah" Faith chuckled as she climbed out of the sleigh. "But the real one's laid up on the couch inside with a sprained ankle. We had to deliver the presents." Buffy and Willow glanced at each other, then squealed excitedly and rushed into the house, with Andrew close behind them. Giles, who seemed very, very, confused, decided it was best to simply follow. "Gee, thought that would have taken longer to explain" Faith shrugged.

* * *

"Faith, Tara, thank you both so much for your help tonight" said Santa, hugging the two women as he prepared to leave. Willow, having become quite adept at magical healing, had fixed his ankle. "And be sure to thank the children for me when they wake up" he added, climbing into the sleigh.

"We will" Tara smiled. With that, the sleigh took off into the night, Santa calling and waving down to them.

"Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!"

"My wife saved Christmas" Buffy grinned, linking arms with Faith as they headed back towards the house.

"My wife helped" Willow pointed out.

"But my wife was Santa."

"Well, my daughter fell out of the sleigh trying to save the presents!"

"Yeah, but my wife's sleigh driving saved your.."

Tara and Faith glanced at each other, smiling, as their wives continued to argue. The truth was, they had saved Christmas together. It was one of the first things they had really accomplished together as sisters, and for that reason, neither one of them would ever forget it.


End file.
